PenguinPupLin: That's an odd problem. It looks like it's running grldr.mbr, as Windows doesn't use "(hd0,0)" numbering, but it can't find the grldr file. Can you check your C:\boot.ini (it's hidden by default, just type in the name into notepad's open dialog) for references to "grldr.mbr" (which shouldn't exist on a XP install)?

Can you check any loaded non-C drives (USBs, CDs, ...) for a "menu.lst" file in the root?

Is if the NTFS partition compressed? I think you can check by going to "My Computer->right click on C:->properties". If so, it is probably why it is failing.

It would also fail if the grldr is fragmented. Use this tool to defragment the one file. Run: contig C:\grldr

You can also try to move grldr onto a USB and see if it finds it there.

[I've only one harddisk with one partition C:\, no other loaded non-C drives]

(4) No,my ntfs partition is not compressed, just a basic drive

(5) Run: contig C:\grldr , still no joy but thanks,noryb009,for the tip.

(6) Tried booting up with grldr on a USB flash drive (root) and see if it finds it there - nope, no luck.
In the error message, there was this line 'Try (fd0):invalid or null' -- I guess fd refers to flash drive as there is no floppy drive in my friend's PC.

Aitch, I've done this twice before in two of my own PCs(one with Slacko.exe,the other with Lucid528.exe), this time I'm doing it for my friend's PC again with Slacko.exe. It's a clean install, the savefile I created was also backed up in his harddrive,no mixing his with mine, and the Slacko folder,Puppy-Linux-531,and menu.lst were created by the Puppy Linux 531.exe windows installer.

"grldr File 213KB" is how it's labelled in WinXP C:\.

The first time, I didn't defrag windows drive before installing Slacko531 and it was running fine until that fateful day. Then I tried various ways to get it working by uninstalling,reinstalling, with chkdsk(twice), defrag, sfc.exe (system file checker), scanned for viruses with Malwarebytes,SuperAnti-Spyware, Microsoft Scanner, installed AVG2012 then tried avast!Antivirus...

Bad download of Slacko.exe which I've used twice successfully,the second time on this very same PC? Well,I also tried lupu525.exe as you suggested earlier, downloaded from the 1st post,no md5sum to check integrity though -- the same outcome. Been searching the Internet for a solution and come across a few cases for Ubuntu users of wubi installer facing similar problem as mine;there was a case dated back 2007 and he claimed three years later still no solution. May be a bug with grub4dos affecting a miniscule number,hoped it will be resolved one day.

noryb009, I renamed grldr as pupgrldr and 'Start Puppy Linux' upon reboot and got the following message:-

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please reinstall a copy of the above file

So I went ahead to do it by booting into my WinXP CD (in drive D: in my case), selected Recovery Console and at the command prompt typed "expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32" (without quotes), then restarted the PC into Windows to let it finish the process of autodetecting all the hardware before trying to Start Puppy Linux again.

Btw, another thing I tried yesterday was to restore WinXP to an earlier point when Slacko was working, no luck too.

Hmm...I thinking whether I should try fixmbr and/or fixboot even though WinXP is working fine; somewhat hesitant, after all it's not my PC and my friend uses it mainly for Adobe Photoshop, am afraid to mess it up though I think it's safe to do so.Last edited by PenguinPupLin on Sat 03 Mar 2012, 10:27; edited 1 time in total

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please reinstall a copy of the above file

That sounds like a classic virus on your windoze system...best run an updated virus checker on it...that would also possibly explain your other problem, as the virus spoofs the fat table on the hard drive, to re-route the boot to a specified virus address, not windoze boot.ini

I'd seriously consider a save what you need/reformat/re-install route...if you really need windoze, then re-install pup-installer on a clean windoze setup

Check all PCs you have copied files to/from with updated virus checker, quickly

But WinXP is intact all the time. I've checked and rechecked for malware using a number of software,eg AVG, avast, Microsoft scanner, Super-Antispyware, Anti-Malwarebytes - all returned clean. Also used ccleaner, glary utilities to test for system errors,clean up the registry, etc.

As for the drastic reformat/reinstall or clean install WinXP route - that will be the last resort since WinXP isn't the problem; a lot of work involved, backing up data, etc... have to check with him;he might prefer to leave well alone.

hal.dll is one of the 1st files boot.ini points to, on a windoze boot
I can only assume the repair you tried failed to load it, or corrupted just that file, then...else, your boot.ini got changed somehow and couldn't find it

Another way to check a windoze install is to go menu/run cmd then type SFC.exe/SCANNOW

Yes, a reformat/re-install is a last resort, but sometimes it's quicker to do that than go round in circles never finding the cause of errors....and having a slow bad install of windoze [which is what many tolerate...because that's what windoze does..... ]

The hal.dll missing message is the error message you SHOULD get when Windows cannot find grldr!

It is bogus and there is nothing wrong with hal.dll or Windows.

What is wrong is that the Windows boot.ini file is calling up c:\grldr and grldr is not there.

Quite why you get the message you stated in your first post is intriguing. Noryb0009 makes it even more intriguing by suggesting the drive numbers are wrong!

Actually, I've just realised the whole message is a bit crazy. If it mentions things like (hd0,0) it is a grub message. grldr is searched for by Windows so we should get a Windows message (the missing hal.dll). How can you be searching for grldr from grub?????

The only thing I know of from grub that searches for grldr is gldr.mbr. Can you think of how you might be calling that. You should not have grldr.mbr on Windows XP????

I installed Slacko 531 windows installer onto my nephew's Acer M1640 desktop that just had Windows Vista upgraded by clean install to Win 7 64-bit. But when I select "Start Puppy Linux" and choose to run slacko in ram mode the first time as there's no pupsave created yet, I keep getting " Slacko_puppy_531.sfs not found. Droppng out to initial-ramdisk console #" and hangs there.

Thought it could be a bad download, so extracted slacko 5.3.2.7.iso that I 've checked before that was good into the same directory and still no joy.

Noticed there is a 100MB reserved partition which is normal, so C: drive is recognized by grub as (hd0,1)... Everything seems normal, this is the 5th rig (previously WIN98SE, WinXP Home Edition, WinXP Pro, Win Vista 32-bit) based on my fave (preferred) setup for puppy frugal install in a multi-boot with Windows environment, so I'm fully aware of what I'm doing.

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